Liquid Natural Flatulence

Trei, Peter ptrei at rsasecurity.com
Wed Mar 31 11:24:29 PST 2004


Bob wrote:
>Justing wrote:
>>Haven't you ever seen a phase diagram?

>Sigh. Yes. Here's one, for water:
><http://wine1.sb.fsu.edu/chm1045/notes/Forces/Phase/Forces06.htm>

>And your point is? Let's see, if we rapidly cool boiling water by
>dispersing it in supercold air... somewhere past the triple-point, it
>goes straight through the solid state, do not pass go, and
>*sublimates* directly into the air.

>Now, maybe, it freezes at the molecular level, or something, first.
>But to the observer, it never reaches a solid state, and it turns
>directly into a gas. It sublimates.

>My understanding is that it has something to do with the extreme
>temperature differential. Like you get with a bunch of boiling LNG
>floating on the Mystic River under the Tobin Bridge. Which is what
>that guy from the USDOE said.

The argument here is over your use of the word 'sublimate'. Liquid
water can't sublimate by definition, since its a liquid. We're 
saying that your chemist friend is using the word incorrectly.
That's all.  

Peter





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